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US data request details revealed

Facebook and Microsoft have revealed details of the number of user data requests they received from US government entities in the second half of 2012. The firms disclosed the data after a deal was reached with US national security authorities.

Facebook reveals details of US requests for data

Facebook has announced it received between 9,000 and 10,000 requests for user data from US government entities during the second half of 2012.

Ted Ullyot said on Facebook's website that these requests "run the gamut - from things like a local sheriff trying to find a missing child, to a federal marshal tracking a fugitive, to a police department investigating an assault, to a national security official investigating a terrorist threat".

A file photo of a wall in Facebook's data centre located in Lulea, Sweden. Credit: Susanne Lindholm/Scanpix/Press Association Images